James Walker believes design influences the way we interact within our physical spaces, whether we’re outside or in. An MFA student in VCU’s Visual Communication and Design program, James is a native of rural southern Illinois and earned a degree in graphic design at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. After freelancing in Austin, TX, he moved to Missouri to develop branded environments and exhibits for a St. Louis architecture firm.

His most recent design project, Dead Bicycles, was developed to stimulate social interaction and local awareness. In it, he shrouded the left-behind bikes that often punctuate city streets, locked to a pole or tree, with silk-screened Tyvek covers that read: Here Lies a Dead Bike. A QR code printed on the shroud let passersby pinpoint other dead bikes in the project and invited them to contribute their own bike submissions. “To continue an individual’s memory beyond their life, we build monuments and tombs,” James says. “By shrouding these dead bicycles, we show our appreciation and love for bicycles.”